The Icelandic alphabet of course has its originsin the common Roman-type alphabetused throughout most of the western world,but the Futhark Runes have also had theirconsiderable influence on its appearance.All those accents over the vowels and
the "Þþ", the "Ðð" and the "Ææ"
have a profound influence on how Icelandic textappears on the printed page or the computer screen.

Just a small illustration is a name spelled
using the usual western alphabet and the Icelandic alphabet

Gudmundur Agust Johannsson
Guðmundur Ágúst Jóhannsson

The name looks a little weathered and bent in the Icelandic alphabet.

An even greater difference shows up in Icelandic
names
using the traditional Runic based characters: